The field of the invention relates to heat sinks and more particularly to a heat sink which is circumferentially expandable and contractable and which can simultaneously physically contact all the leads of an electronic device.
In the electronic industry, electronic devices such as semiconductors, operational amplifiers, and other integrated circuits frequently must be soldered into position on a printed circuit board. During such soldering care must be taken to ensure that heat from the soldering iron at the joint where the lead is soldered does not travel up the lead into the electronic device and destroy the device, lower its efficiency, or change its characteristics. Typically, heat sink clips are fastened one at a time to individual leads before they are soldered. This is a time consuming operation and inefficient from a labor cost standpoint.
An apparatus in accordance with the invention will provide a heat sink for all the leads in one operation.